Letter to the Editor -- May 3

Posted:
05/03/2013 11:11:11 AM MDT

Committee member feels board ignored advice

The recent announcement of the hiring of Jan Delay as superintendent of RE-1 Valley School District has created quite a controversy in Sterling. Of course there is also misinformation about what transpired prior to the hiring and what the school district now faces. I became part of the process by applying and being accepted to be on the interview committee for the hiring. I felt very privileged to have the opportunity to take part in the process. Therefore, I would like to clear up some of the talk going around.

To begin, we have a very good school system, but it has its problems, and many of those are not being addressed by the public (primarily parents and grandparents of our student population.) As a member of the interview committee, we were told that everything we wrote on the comments sheets that were given to us was a matter of public record so we needed to tender our comments. The members of the committees (2) were professional people from different walks of life in Sterling. We interviewed all four candidates using a set of questions that each committee had formulated at a previous meeting. The questions were well thought out and would reveal a great deal about each candidate's background, expertise and knowledge of running a school district.

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At the end of the interviews, the spokesperson for each group presented the committee recommendations to the Board of Education with the understanding that we were NOT making the selection because that was the board's choice. So now you, the readers of this, have some basic information about the process. Therefore, I would like to discuss the outcome.

I attended the board meeting on Tuesday night. When it came time to deliberate about the selection of the superintendent, the board went into executive session. Then they came back about an hour and ten minutes later to announce their decision to hire Jan Delay, and the controversy has begun. In my opinion, Jan Delay did not "fit the bill" for what RE-1 needs. I felt that she had not demonstrated a basic knowledge of being the main administrator of this district. Her interview was not impressive and that was stated in the committee's comments. She did not answer the questions that were asked of her and seemed not to really know what to say. Hesitancy is not a characteristic a superintendent should have. A superintendent should be able to make tough decisions after listening to appropriate comments from board members, but more importantly those from the community members. Herein lies the problem with what the board of education did. Members of the committees felt and still feel slighted by the board. They asked our opinions and then apparently disregarded everything we had stated or didn't listen to begin with.

In my humble opinion, Jan Delay is not going to move this district in the direction that it needs to move. I do not feel that she can give the strong leadership that is also needed. I have read her resume and feel that it supports my opinion. If I am correct (and I am pretty sure I am), anyone can read that resume. I feel that the district has jumped from the frying pan into the fire with their decision. At this point, let me state this. If I am wrong about Jan Delay, I will be the first to publicly apologize to her for my comments, but at this time I do not feel that that will happen.

So... where does the community of Sterling go from here? The education of our children and grandchildren should be the most important issue at stake. This district has some severe problems that need to be corrected. I will tell you that at this time there is a group who will be presenting these issues to the board and expecting them to be dealt with, not swept under the carpet and ignored. Some of the problems I refer to involve the expenditure of taxpayer funds. I will be involved with the process. Next, I know from experience and from many conversations with current teachers that many teachers feel they are not free to express their concerns because if they do, there will be repercussions from administrators. That is not conducive to creating a working environment that favors our children. THAT needs to be changed!

Therefore, I guess if one is to complain, then one should be willing to be involved in helping to initiate that change. I will be. My concern is that in a few weeks the controversy will fall to the side, and community people will go on with "business as usual." That cannot happen if we want to improve the educational process in this district. Also, some people have informed me that they just plan to pull their children out of the district and go elsewhere. I would say this to that point — Just because there are a few bad crew members, don't sink the ship. Rid yourself of the problem and replace those people with people who will do the job. Thanks to the community for allowing me to express my opinions. Now let's get to work!

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